12 May 2006

It is very difficult for people in the United States to understand what it is like in a communist state, particularly one as oppressive as North Korea. I read this story from today's Wall Street Journal and felt two things: gratitude for my country and disgust for those that would compare it to Stalinist Russia or present-day North Korea. As the refugees interviewed in the piece can attest, America is nothing like that. They were separated from their families and have the following to say:

Our interview over, the women relax and begin to talk about their first few days in America. "It's completely different from what we learned. It is difficult to accept that there is a world like this," Hannah says. "They [the North Korean government] teach us that America is a country that shouldn't be allowed to exist." "When we were in China," Naomi says, "we always had to hide. Now we don't feel that way anymore.""We still do feel lonely," says Hannah, "but my heart feels free."

Cuba's situation may not be as severe as North Korea's, but the people there are still not free. Liberty is a fundamental right, and man hungers for it. Read this, and see the price people are willing to pay for freedom.